Since 1951, Colorado has partnered with and benefited from WICHE through regional collaboration, resource-sharing, sound public policy, and innovation.
Download the factsheet for Colorado here.
2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR
by Colorado students through WICHE Student Access Programs
through WUE
through WRGP
through PSEP
WICHE’s Student Access Programs
WICHE operates three Student Access Programs that together saved nearly 50,000 students $580+ million in 2022-23. Each program supports students at each level of postsecondary education: undergraduate, graduate, and professional healthcare studies.
- Students gain from increased choice and savings.
- Schools gain by optimizing enrollments.
- States and Pacific Island members gain by growing the skills of those they serve and strengthening their workforce.
What Students Are Saying
“WRGP has been a game changer! Growing up in poverty, surviving domestic violence, and living in shelters, I never dreamed I could get a high-quality education. Thanks to WRGP tuition savings, I can afford food and living expenses. I plan to provide patient care in the future.”
– Jose, California resident | Modern Human Anatomy, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Improving Lives in Colorado
WICHE works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for all residents of the West. By promoting innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy, WICHE strengthens higher education’s contributions to the region’s social, economic, and civic life. Learn more about our mission.
WICHE brings together senior academic leaders to foster dialogue about issues facing individual institutions through its leadership and professional development networks.
WESTERN ALLIANCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE ACADEMIC LEADERS – 2-YEAR INSTITUTIONS
- Aims Community College
- Arapahoe Community College
- Colorado Community College System
- Colorado Northwestern Community College
- Community College of Aurora
- Community College of Denver
- Front Range Community College
- Lamar Community College
- Morgan Community College
- Northeastern Junior College
- Otero Junior College
- Pikes Peak Community College
- Pueblo Community College
- Red Rocks Community College
- Trinidad State College
Landon Pirius, Colorado Community College System, is a member of the Alliance executive committee.
WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP FORUM – 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS
- Metropolitan State University of Denver
- Colorado State University
- Colorado State University – Pueblo
Alfred Tatum, Metropolitan State University of Denver, is a member of the Alliance executive committee.
WESTERN ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY is a year-long professional development program for academic leaders aspiring to become chief academic officers in the WICHE region. Eleven cohort members from Colorado institutions have participated in the Academy since its inception in 2015.
INTERSTATE PASSPORT® is a national network of institutions that simplifies the transfer process, as well as saves students time and money as they successfully complete their degree. Adams State University is a Network member.
Thanks to collaboration with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (MHEC), one of four U.S. regional higher education compacts, WICHE-region educational institutions, nonprofits, and public education entities can benefit from three programs: MHECtech, which provides competitively bid purchasing contracts for an array of hardware, software, and technology services; MHECare, which provides a student health insurance plan and teletherapy services; and a MHEC Cyber Insurance Program, which offers risk transfer and advisory solutions. Learn more.
Colorado participates in the STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY AGREEMENT (SARA) through WICHE. This voluntary agreement provides reciprocity for the state authorization of distance education.
WICHE Behavioral Health Program (BHP) administers the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). In Colorado, the RCORP program supports three grantees across four sites: Memorial Hospital, San Luis Valley Area Health, and Gunnison County.
The BHP Together With Veterans Program, focused on reducing Veteran suicides, also has two sites in Colorado, one in the San Luis Valley and one in Morgan County (Brush), serving more than 2,000 rural Veterans combined.
Knocking at the College Door is the leading U.S. resource for projections of college-ready students. Knocking, which includes a quadrennial publication with additional analysis, is essential for postsecondary policymakers, planning and workforce efforts, and economic development.
WICHE offers curated data and policy resources to support better-informed decision-making:
- Tuition and Fees in the West includes tuition, fees, and enrollment data about 350+ public institutions in the West.
- Benchmarks: WICHE Region presents information on the West’s progress in improving access to, success in, and financing of higher education.
- Data on over 35 indicators in WICHE’s Regional Fact Book for Higher Education in the West.
WICHE staff have provided research, analysis, and presentations to North Dakota interim higher education committees, focusing on policies to promote workforce development in high-need occupations, such as teaching and health.
WCET- The WICHE Cooperative for Education Technologies is the leader in practice, policy, and advocacy of technology-enhanced learning in higher education. The University of Colorado System, Colorado Community College System, and 20 other institutions and organizations are WCET members.
Tina Parscal, Colorado Community College System, is immediate past-chair of the WCET Steering Committee and recent recipient of WCET’s highest individual award.
Additionally, American Sentinel University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Community College of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Colorado System are members of the State Authorization Network (SAN), which helps guide institutions through state regulations around online courses and programs.
WICHE has convened the OERWest Network, which is part of a nationwide collaborative to scale the development and adoption of free course materials. Open educational resources (OER) have shown promise in improving student outcomes, particularly for poverty-affected students, for whom the high cost of textbooks can be a barrier to postsecondary success.
WICHE Commissioners
*indicates Executive Committee member
Jim Chavez
Executive Director, Community College of Denver Foundation & Governmental Affairs
Jim Chavez
Executive Director, Community College of Denver Foundation & Governmental Affairs
Jim Chavez is the executive director of the Community College of Denver Foundation and Government Affairs.
Chavez has worked much of his professional life for education-related causes. As a board member and staff member of the Colorado Student Obligation Bond Authority, he was instrumental in creating Colorado’s first prepaid college tuition program, now known as CollegeInvest, and then worked across the U.S. to develop and implement numerous state college savings programs, or Section 529 plans. He began his career as a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young.
Chavez is a member of the board of commissioners for the Denver Housing Authority and a member of the board of directors for the Colorado Nonprofit Association. He is a former trustee for the Clayton Early Learning Center, past board member for the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Corporation, and a past member of the board of trustees for the University of Northern Colorado. He is a graduate of Colorado State University.

* Antwan Jefferson
WICHE Commission Vice Chair, Associate Dean for EDI and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Colorado Denver
Antwan Jefferson *
WICHE Commission Vice Chair, Associate Dean for EDI and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Colorado Denver
Antwan Jefferson is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. In his administrative work, Antwan is working to advance and EDI infrastructure that supports faculty, staff, and students, while ensuring the development of an inclusive community of scholarship and practice. In his teaching, Antwan’s focus is on youth, families, and communities, with particular interest in the ways in which institutional and historical practices lead to minoritized statuses, limited resources, and personal/collective forms of inequities. His research agenda considers the ways that family and community members experience schools and organizations in their communities, including the implications of space, voice, and power in decision-making and not-for-profit organizations and schools.

Angie Paccione
Executive Director, Colorado Department of Higher Education
Angie Paccione
Executive Director, Colorado Department of Higher Education
Angie Paccione was appointed executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education by Gov. Jared Polis in January, 2019. Paccione has more than 20 years of experience in secondary and postsecondary education. She was a high school teacher, coach, and administrator at Smoky Hill High School before earning a doctorate in education and human resource studies from Colorado State University. Paccione served on the CSU faculty for nine years as a teacher educator in the “Project Promise” program and conducted research in the teacher education field, examining educators’ life events that led them to commit to issues of diversity and inclusion. Her findings, which informed a teacher preparation program, were published in Teacher’s College Press and have been cited in more than 75 academic papers.
In 2002, Paccione elected to two terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, rising to become house majority caucus chair. She served on the education committee during all four years in the legislature, helping guide Colorado’s education environment. In 2006, she ran for U.S. Congress and came within 2.5 percent of unseating the incumbent.
From 2007 through early 2019, Paccione worked for Verus Global, where she specialized in leadership development, diversity and inclusion, talent development, and change management. She has worked with leaders from the shop floor to the C-suite in 40 countries and all 50 states and has co-authored two books on leadership.
Growing up biracial in New York City, attending college in California and residing in Colorado, Paccione bridges many divides. She was raised to believe you can accomplish anything to which you set your mind. Playing basketball at Stanford University and professionally in the 1980s, Paccione likes to say that she is as committed to your success as she is her own.

Legislative Advisory Committee
Jennifer Bacon
Representative, Colorado State Legislature
Jennifer Bacon
Representative, Colorado State Legislature

Dafna Michaelson Jenet
Representative, Colorado State Legislature
Dafna Michaelson Jenet
Representative, Colorado State Legislature
